Twisted: Brides of the Kindred 23

by Evangeline Anderson

  Nikki frowned. Had Mistress Hellenix taken Dark’s brother then? It seemed like she remembered it the other way around—like someone (the man with the silver eyes) had told her that the little brother escaped and only Dark himself was taken. But it must not have been so.

  “You’re right of course—you can’t leave your brother. I’m sorry,” she said soberly.

  “Landing now,” Dark informed her. “I think Mistress Hellenix is already here.”

  Nikki watched as he landed the long-range ship neatly on the sandy beach and then the two of them got out. They stood side-by-side on the beach and Nikki put a hand to her eyes to scan for her evil twin.

  Soon enough, she saw a car pull up and Mistress Hellenix got out. Stalking around to the driver’s side of the car, she opened the door and dragged someone out—a man, Nikki saw, as she squinted against the strong Florida sun. He had on some kind of a collar and the alien dominatrix was dragging him by a long leather leash.

  Now who can that be? Nikki wondered, frowning. If her evil twin had been half as busy living Nikki’s life as Nikki had been living hers, she shouldn’t have had time to go out and capture some poor man to drag around behind her. She—

  Suddenly she recognized the man. With a shock, she realized it was Gary.

  Her ex-husband had on the most bizarre outfit—a pair of black leather shorts so tight they looked painted on. They were short-shorts too—meaning they went up his ass and showed plenty of his pale, skinny, hairy legs. His beer gut spilled over the top of them, though it looked a little smaller than Nikki remembered. Had Mistress Hellenix put him on some kind of crash diet? Maybe she’s just been running him ragged, forcing him to drive her all over town and never giving him a minute to himself in his man cave—that sounded likely.

  In addition to the skin-tight shorts and collar, her ex had on a black leather skull cap that covered his balding head and a black leather harness decorated with silver studs criss-crossed across his rather flabby abdomen and chest. Black , thigh-high ladies high-heeled boots completed the outfit.

  Gary wobbled on the boots uncertainly, as though he wasn’t sure how to walk in them. No surprise, since he had never shown any kind of proclivity for cross-dressing—at least as far as Nikki knew. She wondered where Mistress Hellenix had gotten the bizarre outfit and how she had persuaded Gary to put it on. Then again, from the way she was yanking on the leash, it didn’t look like she’d done much persuading at all. She had probably just told him what to do and expected him to do it.

  “Come, Garrison—no time for dawdling,” the Yonnite Mistress said, hauling heartlessly on the leash. “Your new life begins now.”

  “Yes, Mistress,” Gary panted, scrambling to keep up with her long strides as she dragged him across the parking lot and over the sandy dunes of the beach. It took some time, because Gary was having trouble walking in the sand wearing the high-heeled boots, but at last they came to where Nikki and Dark were standing.

  “Hello, Velka,” Nikki said, speaking directly to the Yonnite Mistress. After the past couple of days, she felt she had certainly earned the right to address the other woman by her first name.

  “Hello, Nicole.” Mistress Hellenix inclined her head regally. “I’m glad to see you’re finally here. Your life here is so horribly dull. Positively awful. The only fun I’ve had at all is disciplining your cheating ex-mate, here. Isn’t that right, Garrison?” She yanked on the leash again and Gary fell to his knees, looking up at her.

  “Yes, Mistress.” He sounded out of breath and no wonder—walking in sand wearing four-inch platform heels was probably no easy task, Nikki thought. Especially since the most exercise he ever got was getting up to get a new beer during the commercial break while he watched the game.

  “Anyway,” Mistress Hellenix went on. “I did all that you asked of me and fulfilled my end of the contract. Now I would like my life back as well as the E’lo stone which got us into this mess in the first place.” She held out a hand imperiously, waiting as Nicole untied the little velvet bag from around her neck and handed it over.

  “So that’s it?” she asked, as Mistress Hellenix inspected the stone and nodded in apparent approval before slipping it back into the bag. “We just…switch back?”

  “Of course—that was what we agreed on, wasn’t it?” the Yonnite Mistress demanded. “Though I do have a tiny tweak to the deal, which I’m sure you won’t mind.”

  “A tweak? What tweak?” Nikki asked, frowning.

  “I want to keep this one.” Mistress Hellenix yanked on Gary’s leash. “He amuses me more than all my other slaves put together. Probably because he is so different from them and has never known a Mistress’s firm hand before. He had no notion of what it was like to be ruled by a strong woman until I came along.”

  Well, that was certainly true, Nikki thought wryly. Gary had never been the kind to knuckle-under before. The one time he’d had a female boss at work he’d done nothing but complain and call her a “brass-balled bitch.” Nikki had met her at a company function and she’d seemed perfectly lovely—not at all like Mistress Hellenix. Now she was a real brass-balled bitch and Nikki was betting that Gary had found that out the hard way.

  Still, it would be heartless of her to just give away her ex-husband to her evil twin—especially knowing the discipline techniques the other woman used. She could just imagine Gary getting a flogging with the pain whip or, even worse, getting the rod. He had lived a comfortable, easy existence up until now with first his mother and then Nikki to wait on him. That kind of treatment might just break him.

  “I’m afraid not,” she said reluctantly to Mistress Hellenix. “Gary isn’t for, uh, sale.”

  “Oh, I’m not asking you, Nicole—I’m telling you.” The alien dominatrix yanked on Gary’s leash again, making him sit up in the sand like a dog begging for a bone. He whimpered softly but didn’t seem to dare to voice any louder complaint. “I am taking him,” Mistress Hellenix continued. “After all, he cheated on you and separated himself from you legally—which means you have no rights to him anymore. I have claimed him and you cannot gainsay my declaration.”

  “But he’s the father of my children,” Nikki pointed out, thinking fast. “What will my boys say when I tell them they’ll never see their father again?”

  “They were never going to see him again anyway,” Mistress Hellenix informed her. “I got the whole story out of him, you know. He and the female he was cheating with were planning to run away and live in a foreign land called ‘Atuba’ or some such name.”

  “Atuba? You mean Aruba? You were going to run off to Aruba?” Nikki demanded, glaring down at her leashed ex-husband.

  “It’s…a tropical paradise,” he choked out. “Rene and I were going to start an on-line consulting business. It was going to be beautiful. No responsibilities…no kids…no nagging spouses.”

  “Wait a minute, Rene?” Nikki could hardly believe her ears. “Not my cousin, Rene? Not her?”

  “Yes, indeed—he was going to run off with your kin,” Mistress Hellenix said briskly. “After taking all your mutual assets out of your account and leaving you with nothing. Now how do you feel about letting me take him?”

  Nikki’s blood was boiling and she was seeing red at this new piece of unwelcome news. She and her cousin Rene had always been close—almost like sisters. How could Gary even think of being with her—let alone cleaning out their bank-account and running off to Aruba to start a whole new life?

  But still, looking at her ex crouching miserably in the sand wearing the collar and tight shorts and thigh-high ladies platform boots, she knew she couldn’t condemn him to the kind of life Mistress Hellenix proposed to give him. It was too cruel—too inhumane.

  “I’m sorry,” she said reluctantly, trying to hold back her temper. “I agree he’s a cheating dog and he doesn’t deserve much, but I just can’t let you take the father of my children off to God-knows-where and do God-knows-what to him.”

  Hellenix frowned.


  “Again, I am not asking, I am telling. However, since you do have a legitimate claim to him, I will do this much—I will trade your worthless mate for my valuable chef and bodyslave, Dark there. And that is more than a bargain for you. He cooks beautifully and I know from painful recent experience that this one…” Here she yanked on Gary’s leash again. “Can’t cook so much as a toasted carbohydrate slice without burning it to a crisp.”

  “I cannot leave your service, Mistress—not without my younger brother,” Dark protested, speaking up for the first time. “He is also in your care.”

  “Oh, very well!” The Yonnite Mistress threw up her hands. “I will set him free as soon as I get back to my mansion—you have my word.” She looked at Gary. “Did you hear that? I have now lost two valuable slaves just to keep you. You had better be worth the deal, Garrison! You will spend the rest of your life pleasing me to make sure you are.”

  Gary whimpered again, but didn’t appear to dare to say a word.

  Nikki had something to say though—if she could ever get it out.

  “I really don’t think—” she began but Mistress Hellenix kept right on talking over her.

  “Of course this trade means that I will have to pilot myself all the way back to Yonnie Six, since I am certain this stupid male cannot drive a space ship. Can you, Garrison?” she demanded, yanking on his leash again.

  “No, Mistress,” he choked out.

  “As I thought.” Mistress Hellenix looked disgusted with his ineptitude. “Ignorant male—you’re lucky your submission amuses me. You’ll suck my toes for hours to make up for this inconvenience—that I promise you.” She sighed heavily. “But for now, we must go. Come.” She pulled on his leash, leading him up to the ship and forcing him to climb into the passenger’s side seat.

  Nikki had felt paralyzed through these proceedings but now suddenly her paralysis broke and she ran over to the ship she herself had so recently vacated.

  “Wait, Hellenix,” she protested, as her evil twin climbed into the pilot’s chair and strapped herself in, in a very professional manner. “I really don’t think this is right! If you take Gary—”

  “If it’s domestic affairs you’re concerned about, don’t worry,” the other woman said. “I had Garrison here sign over everything to you in preparation for leaving, including all property, cash, and assets. He had quite a bit hidden away you know,” she added. “You’re in much better financial shape now than before I came. You’re welcome.”

  “I…but I…” Nikki didn’t know what to say. But before she could muster her thoughts any further, Mistress Hellenix had shut the door to the ship and was revving the engines in preparation for lift-off.

  “Come, Nicole—it’s not safe to be this close to a ship with its engines going full blast.” Dark took her by the arm and pulled her away.

  “But…but she took my husband. I mean my ex-husband. She took Gary.” Nikki still couldn’t quite get over it.

  “It sounds to me like she did you a favor,” Dark said, frowning. “How could a male be so faithless as to cheat with a female relative of yours and then plan to leave you and your children alone with no monetary assets while he ran off with her?”

  “Yeah, he’s pretty much a jerk,” Nikki admitted. “I just hate to have to face the boys and break the news they won’t be seeing their father again.”

  “They wouldn’t have been seeing him anyway—if he really was planning to run off to a distant country,” Dark pointed out practically. “This was actually a good bargain for you. And for me.” He put a hand on his heart and looked at her seriously. “I owe you my life, Nicole. I would have gone to my grave in that evil female’s servitude had you not consented to trade your ex-mate for me.”

  “What about your brother, though?” Nikki asked him. “Do you really think Mistress Hellenix will let him go?”

  “As I said, she’s usually scrupulous in honoring deals,” Dark said. “She might send an assassin bot to kill you, but she wouldn’t cheat you out of a payment that she promised or renege on a deal she has sworn to. Yes, I think she will let him go.” He frowned. “Though I would like to go someplace where they have a viewscreen with interstellar communications abilities so that I can call him and be for certain.”

  “I’ll take you to the HKR building—that stands for Human Kindred Relations,” Nikki said, seeing his confused frown. “I’m sure the other Kindred there can help you out.”

  “I’m certain you’re right.” Dark nodded gratefully. “But what will you do?”

  “Well…it seems to still be morning here.” Nikki looked around. “So I guess after I drop you off I’ll get changed and go to work.” She wondered what kind of shape Mistress Hellenix had left her work life in—it was probably better to go find out now and get it over with rather than wait for later.

  The sadness she’d been feeling ever since that moment of disorientation in the ship on the way home still persisted but she told herself she was just worried about what she would find in the office and upset that she’d have to tell the boys their father was gone. That had to be the reason for the dark feelings clouding her mind, didn’t it?

  Yes, it has to be, she told herself firmly and nodded at Dark.

  “Come on—let’s hope she left the keys in the car.”

  Dropping Dark off at the HKR building in downtown Tampa didn’t take long. Nikki took a moment to run into the restroom there and change from her outlandish Mistress outfit into the spare business clothes she kept in the trunk. It was always good to have a change, just in case she was doing some last-minute paint touch-ups or cleaning on a house that Missy wanted ready to show.

  Nikki frowned to herself as she drove to Rosy Ray’s Realty. That was another thing that was going to have to change—she refused to work under Missy Cannon one minute longer! She had her own Realtor’s license now and she was damn well going to use it. Also, Missy had better watch out if she was thinking of stealing any of Nikki’s sales. That was so not happening again. She—

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft chime of her cell phone, which Mistress Hellenix had thoughtfully brought, along with her purse. Fishing it out at a red light, Nikki glanced at it and saw it was from Jacob and James’s middle school. What had gone wrong now? Were they fighting again?

  With a feeling of dread, she pressed the accept button and put the phone to her ear.

  “Mrs. Davis?” said a faintly familiar voice. “This is Ms. Lucas, the ESC specialist here at Adams Middle School. I just wanted to go over the notes from the 504 Plan meeting we had about your boys, James and Jacob.”

  “Oh yes!” Belatedly, Nikki remembered the meeting that Mistress Hellenix was supposed to attend for her. Had she done it? Apparently so, because the ESC specialist continued talking.

  “During our meeting, you expressed some rather strong, er, opinions as to the services your boys are getting,” the specialist said. “And I just wanted you to know, we agree with you completely. Jacob and James will be keeping their classroom services and we will not be cutting into their therapy time either. In fact, in James’ case, I think it will be prudent to add an hour a week to that time—he really seems to need it.”

  “Oh! Well thank you. Thank you very much!” Nikki was almost speechless. “That’s…really good news.”

  “Well, you seemed to feel so strongly about it that we looked into it again,” Ms. Lucas said. “And we had to agree that your boys need more services—not less. I just thought you would want to know.”

  “Yes—yes, of course. And thank you again,” Nikki said. She hung up the phone with a feeling of wonder. Amazing! Well, that was certainly one worry off her plate.

  She drove the rest of the way to work with a slightly lighter heart, though the deep sadness was still in the back of her mind. But it wasn’t sadness so much as a sense of loss, Nikki thought to herself. As though she had somehow misplaced something—or someone, maybe. Someone so dear to her she couldn’t bear to be without them. But that was crazy, wasn’t
it? How could you misplace an entire person and then forget about them? It didn’t make any sense…

  The minute she pulled up in front of Rosy Ray’s Realty, Missy Cannon came rushing out.

  Oh great, Nikki thought sourly. I wonder what she wants to bitch at me about today?

  But when she opened her car door—which happened to be Gary’s Mercedes instead of her own old clunker—and stepped out, Missy’s words weren’t bitchy. In fact, they were almost…deferential.

  “Oh, Nicole—I’m so glad you’re here!” she exclaimed. “I wanted to let you know—that couple you showed the house to on Bayshore yesterday called back and they want to put an offer on it.”

  “Really? Bayshore?” Nikki could hardly believe it. Bayshore Boulevard was the most exclusive and expensive neighborhood in South Tampa. It was a long, meandering road that hugged the sandy shore of Tampa Bay and it was home to some of the priciest mansions available anywhere. Everyone who lived there was a multi-millionaire so Nikki could just imagine the commission a house from that area would bring. A commission she was extremely surprised that Missy wasn’t even trying to steal!

  “Yes—I took their number, though I’m sure you already have it.” Missy bobbed her head and handed Nikki a post-it note with a name and number written on it. “All you have to do is call back—they’re waiting to hear from you.”

  “Well…thank you.” Nikki nodded, feeling bemused. Apparently Mistress Hellenix had done a better job working here than she’d thought!

  “Oh, and of course I’ll get the paperwork ready for you,” Missy added. “It’s only fair since you prepared paperwork for me for so long.”

  “Thank you again.” Nikki smiled at her and walked into the office. At once her boss, Mr. Ray, who usually ignored her, bounced out of his chair and came running to greet her.

  “There you are, Nicole! I hear from Missy here that you’ve made another sale,” he exclaimed. “It’s amazing how you just tell people what to buy and they buy it!”